Acknowledgement???

[UBCStudent128]

Hi guys, I'm wondering if a prof is willing to put your name in under "Acknowledgement" what does that count as? Can you even put it in application that you were "acknowledged"?

[justletmein]

It shows that you contributed to the project so worth mentioning in your app, but obviously does not carry as much weight as authorship.

[Smurfette]

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I doubt the acknowledgement really means much at all from an application perspective. But the research experience and potential reference letter might. Focus on those.

[thehumanmacbook]

data monkey role = acknowledgement

[future_doc]

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I doubt the acknowledgement really means much at all from an application perspective. But the research experience and potential reference letter might. Focus on those.

 

Smurfette, it means more than no acknowledgement but I tend to agree with you. I love your user name, would you switch with me?

[Smurfette]

Thanks! i like my username too

 

It's been a couple years since I've reviewed/interviewed candidates for med school, so I might be a bit outdated. But I just can't see how you would put it on an application without it looking weird. "I was acknowledged in a publication"? It just draws attention to the fact that you weren't an author (which a good number of candidates are). I don't think I would be that impressed reading it. Instead i think you're better off focusing on writing about your experience and what you learned from it in your personal letter. And trying to get a great reference letter. Those are things that I would actually be looking for as a reviewer and it wouldn't draw to the authorship and rather more attention to the personal characteristics (which is very valuable).

[future_doc]

Makes sense to me Smurfette.

 

Nobody ever gave me an acknowledgement. Then again, I was not involved in research.

[UBCStudent128]

Thanks! i like my username too

 

It's been a couple years since I've reviewed/interviewed candidates for med school, so I might be a bit outdated. But I just can't see how you would put it on an application without it looking weird. "I was acknowledged in a publication"? It just draws attention to the fact that you weren't an author (which a good number of candidates are). I don't think I would be that impressed reading it. Instead i think you're better off focusing on writing about your experience and what you learned from it in your personal letter. And trying to get a great reference letter. Those are things that I would actually be looking for as a reviewer and it wouldn't draw to the authorship and rather more attention to the personal characteristics (which is very valuable).

I was under the impression that publications are rare among the med school applicants.

[charmer08]

I was under the impression that publications are rare among the med school applicants.

 

uhm theres a lot of applicants with a masters degree

[thehumanmacbook]

I was under the impression that publications are rare among the med school applicants.

 

With more UGs publishing or being tagged at the ends of author lists for pubs, not anymore.

[UBCStudent128]

uhm theres a lot of applicants with a masters degree

 

And a LOT more applicants without masters degree or any research backgrounds... The pool of students on PM doesn't represent the real pool of applicants.

 

 

How many authors are there usually on a publication anyways? I only see around 4~5 names on pubs usually..

[charmer08]

And a LOT more applicants without masters degree or any research backgrounds... The pool of students on PM doesn't represent the real pool of applicants.

 

 

How many authors are there usually on a publication anyways? I only see around 4~5 names on pubs usually..

 

Yeah its very rare to find UG students with a pub. But theres still a lot of masters students accepted.

 

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/documents/Classof2014.pdf

 

12% of the class had a masters and you end up having a publication if its a research based masters. And I'm not including all the other masters students that also applied and were not accepted or accepted some other offer.

 

But I agree, PM101 pool is not representative of the real pool.

[thatonekid]

With more UGs publishing or being tagged at the ends of author lists for pubs, not anymore.

While they may not be as rare, it's not like it's a common thing for an UG applicant to have a publication on their app. Research is just one component of an application and is by no means needed to get into med school.

[thehumanmacbook]

While they may not be as rare, it's not like it's a common thing for an UG applicant to have a publication on their app. Research is just one component of an application and is by no means needed to get into med school.

 

It's definitely not, and I wish more people would realize that. But there are definitely attractive aspects to clinical research (and I think in med school, the experience will assist in some way if you want to pursue more of an academic/clinician role).

 

But what it does entail, is that more and more individuals CAN have a publication along side many of their other non-research/academic accomplishments, giving the "feel" of a fuller, more accomplished app. I can't speak for adcom or how med students will view this, but I do think a vast majority of the entry class will have some research experience...and in the future, more and more will have a publication to add as well.

[charmer08]

It's definitely not, and I wish more people would realize that. But there are definitely attractive aspects to clinical research (and I think in med school, the experience will assist in some way if you want to pursue more of an academic/clinician role).

 

But what it does entail, is that more and more individuals CAN have a publication along side many of their other non-research/academic accomplishments, giving the "feel" of a fuller, more accomplished app. I can't speak for adcom or how med students will view this, but I do think a vast majority of the entry class will have some research experience...and in the future, more and more will have a publication to add as well.

 

Do you know a lot of med students that had pubs back in undergrad? None of the people I know "personally" that got accepted into medschool had a pub.

 

But true, competition has increased substantially in the past 5 years and will tend to increase (until Canadas population becomes stable)

[UBCStudent128]

I only asked b/c the prof told me I would be acknowledged for the work I would do during the summer, but if I continued to stay that I would get my name on a pub as a co-author and that some of his students ended up being 1st author.

 

But I'd assume that it would be at least a school year + another summer before I can do enough work to get my name on a pub... let alone wait for the paper to become published

[future_doc]

So why not stay?

[UBCStudent128]

So why not stay?

 

I probably will haha, but realistically speaking I dont see myself getting my name on a pub for anytime soon. So I wanted to see how much acknowledgement would add to my application, since I would be putting a lot of hours into the lab without pub for a long time.

[leap87]

I probably will haha, but realistically speaking I dont see myself getting my name on a pub for anytime soon. So I wanted to see how much acknowledgement would add to my application, since I would be putting a lot of hours into the lab without pub for a long time.

 

Why not try proposing your own project? Even though you might be paired with a grad student... this should get you a pub.

[axialpac]

Why not try proposing your own project? Even though you might be paired with a grad student... this should get you a pub.

 

If a prof let's you start your own project, does that mean there's a possibility you can publish a paper?

[justletmein]

If a prof let's you start your own project, does that mean there's a possibility you can publish a paper?

 

If you start something, work for 2 months on it during the summer and leave, then no, you will not get a publication out of it.

 

The key is to show interest and dont be afraid to ASK about authorship.

Maybe not on day 1, because you don't want to sound like a douche, but at some point it should be clear whether or not you will be included as an author.

 

I had a very clear understanding with my supervisor -- he basically told me that if I committed to seeing the project all the way through, then I would be first author. I kept my end of the deal, and he kept his.

 

edit= for undergrad research, try to stay away from strictly data entry -- that is the kind of thing that will get your name in the acknowledgements section. By the time the manuscript is being written, they probably won't even remember that you were involved.

[leap87]

If you start something, work for 2 months on it during the summer and leave, then no, you will not get a publication out of it.

 

The key is to show interest and dont be afraid to ASK about authorship.

Maybe not on day 1, because you don't want to sound like a douche, but at some point it should be clear whether or not you will be included as an author.

 

I had a very clear understanding with my supervisor -- he basically told me that if I committed to seeing the project all the way through, then I would be first author. I kept my end of the deal, and he kept his.

 

edit= for undergrad research, try to stay away from strictly data entry -- that is the kind of thing that will get your name in the acknowledgements section. By the time the manuscript is being written, they probably won't even remember that you were involved.

 

+1 (if you do not want first author pub).

 

If you want a first author pub, you will propose a study, run it through ethics, collect data, analyze data and then depending on your results (sometimes you get crap ones) write a manuscript. THIS will (or should) get you a first author pub, unless your professor is a douche.

[leap87]

That's good advice.

My professor who I'll be volunteering with next summer said he'll teach me both the theoretical and experimental aspects of his research and that if I liked his research enough I can start my own project. So I was curious at the prospect of getting something more out of it. I'm sure that I'll probably continue working with prof not just after the summer ends so I'll see I guess. What exactly is "first author"? Do you get your name listed first or something.

 

Yeah, you write the whole manuscript, so you're the first author (meaning you put your name first).

[NewfieMike]

I would not write that I was acknowledged on a publication on a med app.

 

I would also not expect to get authorship on a paper after one summer's worth of UG research, especially b/c the undergrads I see around here (and once was) do grunt work over the summer.

 

I started UG research b/w 2nd-3rd year undergrad. My entire 4th year thesis went in as "part 2" of the experiment. 6 months into my M.Sc. and this thing was published (I was 2nd author).

 

This is the hard way to get a publication in UG. The easy way is to join a lab that pumps out tons of papers (likely in low impact journals) that puts everyone in the lab on each paper. This happens as well. I don't think "quality" of publication matters for a med application. Certainly matters for other aspects of a career in academia, of course.

[Guest LeCreuset]

I would not write that I was acknowledged on a publication on a med app.

 

I would also not expect to get authorship on a paper after one summer's worth of UG research, especially b/c the undergrads I see around here (and once was) do grunt work over the summer.

 

I started UG research b/w 2nd-3rd year undergrad. My entire 4th year thesis went in as "part 2" of the experiment. 6 months into my M.Sc. and this thing was published (I was 2nd author).

 

This is the hard way to get a publication in UG. The easy way is to join a lab that pumps out tons of papers (likely in low impact journals) that puts everyone in the lab on each paper. This happens as well. I don't think "quality" of publication matters for a med application. Certainly matters for other aspects of a career in academia, of course.

 

This is the truth. The only conceivable way to get a publication as a non-thesis student is to work in a paper-mill lab for repeated summers. NSERC helps as it makes you more credible in the profs eyes (as well as makes their own CV better when they apply for funding.)